You are absolutely right Shady.

Let me tell the wrong once first.

1.The word reconciliation was ‘invented’ by your State
Department. We never asked for it. All we wanted was elimination of terrorism
and that’s what we got fro m Rajapaksa.

2. Human rights : for us this means getting three square meals a
day, giving our children a good education etc. Worrying about missing
journalists for example, is way down the list.

3. International pressure has made us more hardline
than we actually are. The less is better.

4. The people who died during the war is the
collateral damage. This includes solders, ltte cadres and civilians who got
caught in the cross fire. Though this was unfortunate, there is no point
digging old wounds as we can’t get their lives back. Besides about 20000 lives
have been saved for lack of war during the last five years. Think of crimes committed
by your human rights loving country in Hiroshima, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan
etc.

5. Lost of credibility with westerners is not a big concern for us. Because we do not suck up to westerners.

6. People do not live in fear as you say, around a million Sri Lankan travels abroad every year
for work or for other purposes and most of them do return. Some journalists have gone to the first world looking for a better life and they will not return any time soon. And you should have been around when the bombs were going off in buses and trains.

You got two things correct.

1. The UNP may not be any better but it’s the only alternative we have.

2. It has to be a domestic process as we hate foreign interference more than anything else. Most of our past presidents did rule like dictators but they are all gone now. In fact we will get rid of the Rajapaksa clan some day on our own terms but never on your (foreigners) terms. Less foreign interference can speed up this process.